Hiccup Lost
by drollydragon
Summary: Imagine if, on the fateful day 20 years before HTTYD 2, Cloudjumper decided to take Hiccup rather than Valka. What would happen? Growing up with dragons, away from all human contact, how would Hiccup turn out? How would the evolution of Berk change? And, most importantly, how would the Haddock family as a whole be affected? "Hiccup Lost" explores all of these questions and more.
1. Prologue

**Valka**

War. All she could see was war. Flames were lapping around her on every side. There was blood. There was battle. There was hurt.

Valka tried to make her way through the village, now teeming with battling dragons and Vikings. It was chaos. She could barely make out her own hands.

_This is my chance,_ she reminded herself. _I have to try._

The scream of a dragon caused Valka to whip her head around. A Monstrous Nightmare had crashed to the ground, and standing over it was a big brute of a Viking wielding a sharp, heavy, double-sided axe.

"Stop!" cried Valka desperately, running toward him and grasping his wrist. "You'll only make it worse!"

The Viking shoved her away, but the moment of distraction was enough for the dragon to get up and fly away. The villager shot Valka a glare, but spared not a moment longer for her. He rushed off back into the heat of the battle, leaving Valka staring after him.

The sound of a devastating crack sounded behind Valka. She turned to see her own house's roof split in two. Climbing inside was a giant, four-winged dragon.

Panic flooded Valka's brain. "Hiccup!" she gasped, sprinting towards the house in hopes of saving her young son.

Valka burst through the still-intact door and grabbed a spare knife hanging from the wall. She didn't want to hurt a dragon, but if it meant saving her son, she would do it.

But then she caught sight of the dragon.

It was leaning over Hiccup's cradle, staring at the child. And Hiccup wasn't crying. Rather, he was laughing, trying to grasp the claw the dragon offered him. It hadn't noticed Valka yet.

Before it could, though, it was struck by a heavy axe grazing its tail. The dragon recoiled, and Valka saw its claw slice across her son's chin, leaving a deep cut. Hiccup immediately started to cry.

"Hiccup! Valka!" Stoick the Vast charged into the house. Enraged, the dragon let out a tongue of fire, setting the floor between it and Stoick aflame. Giving them a last snarl, it snatched Hiccup up in its giant claws and took to the air, leaving Stoick and Valka standing in the burning house, both in shock.

"No! Hiccup!" cried Valka. She ran outside, quickly followed by her husband.

"_SON!_" Stoick roared, staring helplessly after Hiccup, whose terrified cries were fading by the second.

A tear rolled down Valka's cheek. She wrapped her arms around Stoick and sobbed into his shoulder. He returned her embrace, and they held it for what could have been a century or a second. Their only son, Hiccup, was gone. Forever.

The whole village was heartbroken to hear of the loss of Hiccup. Many tried to offer their condolences, but it did nothing for Valka. No apology could ever replace her son.

_If only Stoick had left that dragon alone,_ she thought to herself furiously while sitting by the fire one night, unable to sleep. _My son would still be here._

Valka sighed, staring blankly into the dancing flames. _No._ It wasn't fair to blame Stoick. He was as devastated as her that Hiccup was gone.

"Val."

Valka turned her head to see Stoick at the foot of the stairs. He came over and sat next to her, resting his large hand on her small one.

"It'll be alright, Val," he said, though the break in his voice suggested he was trying to convince himself as much as her. "We can—there will be other heirs. We'll still have children." Valka could tell his heart wasn't in the statement.

"But we won't have Hiccup."

Stoick fell quiet, and they sat there together by the fire for the whole night, neither of them saying a word, neither of their eyes dry.


	2. Chapter 1: Ten Years Later

**Hiccup**

_Ten years later…_

Sunlight filtered through the entrance of Hiccup and Cloudjumper's cave, waking them. Hiccup rubbed his eyes and squinted out from underneath the crook of the Stormcutter's wing. _Is it dawn already?_

Cloudjumper had no problem getting up so early. The dragon stood up and stretched, allowing a whole new splash of sun to wash over Hiccup's face. He gave the dragon a sleepy look.

"Five more minutes?" No sound escaped Hiccup's mouth, but his body language communicated his message just the same. That was how it always was.

Cloudjumper gave him a stern look. "No. Unless you want to miss breakfast."

_That_ got Hiccup up. "Oh, alright, I'm coming," he relented. Getting to his feet, he walked out into the open.

He glanced into the next cave, where a group of Speed Stingers slept. He'd always had a suspicion that he was possibly some subspecies of Speed Stinger. Cloudjumper had told him that he was supposed to walk only on his back legs. Hiccup had compared it to a Speed Stinger, but Cloudjumper had shut down his theory. Hiccup still believed it, though, because what other dragon had no wings and walked only on their hind legs?

"Come on!" Cloudjumper was waiting for him on the edge of the cliff. "Do you want food or not?"

"I'm _coming_," Hiccup repeated, walking over to him. He tightened the length of animal fur he kept wrapped around himself, as his lack of scales resulted in his getting cold pretty easily. Cloudjumper took off, did a loop above Hiccup, then grasped his shoulders. Hiccup was used to this as a way of transport, but it didn't make it any less embarrassing when he'd see the other groups of young dragons flying all on their own.

It was strange. Hiccup glanced over at a flock of three Deadly Nadders he recognized. Despite having been born shortly _after _Hiccup, they were nearly full-grown while Hiccup seemed to not even be halfway there. Cloudjumper had said his species was just slow at growing, but that didn't eliminate his frustration.

A purple Nadder from the flock beside him, who Hiccup recognized as Thunderthorn snickered to his siblings. "Oh, look," he jeered. "It's Cloudjumper's little _pet._"

"I am not a _pet_," Hiccup snapped. "I'm a dragon, just like you, Thunderthorn."

"What kind of dragon doesn't have wings?" sneered Sleetstorm, his teal sister.

"Seashockers," Hiccup listed. "Speed Stingers. Oh, and _Bewilderbeasts._"

"Okay, but that doesn't excuse your _significant_ lack of scales and fire," Sleetstorm pointed out, wrinkling her nose in disgust. "And presence of, ah, _whatever _that is." She flicked Hiccup's head with a claw and he tried not to wince.

"It's just fur," he grumbled. "Lots of animals have it."

"Lots of animals," said Thunderthorn. "But _not_ dragons."

Sleetstorm gave Hiccup another disdainful look. "Let's get to the fish before Cloudjumper's pet takes it all," she scoffed. "Come on, Thunderthorn. Snowclaw."

"I have a _name!_" Hiccup yelled after them as they flew off. He scowled and gave a meaningful glance to Cloudjumper, who didn't even glance at him. "Gee, thanks for sticking up for me," he muttered, only half-hoping the Stormcutter would hear. "Really appreciate it."

Cloudjumper gave him a look, and his normally expressionless face softened just a little. "They're just messing with you, Hiccup. Don't give them any attention. That's what they want."

"But if I don't," Hiccup protested, "they'll never stop."

"Words aren't important," said Cloudjumper. "That's why we barely use them." He widened his eyes at Hiccup. "Did you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know—"

"I said _we._"

Hiccup stared at him, but he was already focusing back on not crashing into other dragons as they made their way to the very heart of the nest.

Below them was the ocean, which was the only thing allowed to seep in from outside their home. And out of the ocean rose their Alpha.

The Bewilderbeast was massive. Hiccup suspected he would need several thousand of himself to even make up half of him.

The Alpha was their provider, their leader, their king, and like a father to them all. Cloudjumper had said he'd built their nest with his breath, which could create giant swathes of ice.

The feeding process went as usual. The Alpha gathered a colossal amount of fish in his mouth and sprayed it up into the air for the dragons to catch.

Cloudjumper immediately dive-bombed, making Hiccup's stomach drop. It happened every time, but Hiccup was never prepared for it.

Hiccup began snatching a few salmon out of the sky. His mouth was abnormally small for a dragon, so he'd found it beneficial to use his front feet to grab things. This, of course, resulted in lots of comments from Thunderthorn and Sleetstorm, but Hiccup didn't care as long as it was more convenient for him. Even so, he could feel even the icy gaze of the Bewilderbeast resting on him, and it sent chills down his spine.

Once Cloudjumper and Hiccup had collected enough fish (it was two for Hiccup and around fifteen for Cloudjumper), the Stormcutter took them back to their cave. Cloudjumper let Hiccup down and immediately started swallowing his fish whole.

Hiccup sank his teeth into the salmon. He'd never much liked fish, despite it being the only thing they ate. He didn't care for the slimy texture of the skin, and the feel of its organs on his tongue made his stomach roll. It was all he had, though, so he'd gotten used to it...mostly.

Hiccup gagged a little as he bit off a portion of his salmon's head. Unfortunately, at that precise moment, Sleetstorm's gang walked by.

"What kind of dragon doesn't like fish?" she cackled to her siblings. Thunderthorn snickered evilly and even Snowclaw shot him an ill-natured glance.

"You have it, then," said Cloudjumper mildly, plucking the dismembered fish from Hiccup's grasp and tossing it at them. This resulted in Sleetstorm getting an eyeful of fish brains.

"Ugh!" she spluttered, wiping her face. She scrunched up her face at Cloudjumper, but stalked off. Thunderthorn and Snowclaw followed suit.

Cloudjumper sighed and glanced at Hiccup. "What do you say we go for a fly today? Maybe get some time away from _those_ bastards."

"Sure," Hiccup agreed. "And, uh, thanks. For getting rid of them."

He shrugged. "I don't like them either." He crouched down.

Hiccup climbed on, slipping a leg on either side of his back. Most of the time Cloudjumper carried him by his shoulders, but according to the Stormcutter, he got heavy after a while, so it was better for him to be on his back for long distances. It felt quite strange, but it was more comfortable for both of them.

Cloudjumper took off. He sped through a hole in the rock before anyone could stop them to say anything, and soon they were gliding out in the open.

Hiccup loved going on flights with Cloudjumper. He rarely got to see anywhere other than the area right around their cave, as he couldn't fly around the nest himself, so it was immensely refreshing to get out in the wide-open world.

Cloudjumper liked to go way up in the clouds, but Hiccup preferred to see the view, so the Stormcutter skimmed the ocean, allowing Hiccup to see everything.

"I feel like a long flight today," Cloudjumper announced. "Let's make it a day trip."

"Sounds good to me," said Hiccup happily.

They flew for hours on end, and Hiccup never got bored. Even tiny islands off in the distance were a huge deal for him, and he kept pointing each one out until Cloudjumper said that he "got the point."

After a time, the sun was at the peak of the sky, blazing down on the two. Cloudjumper agreed that they could stop at an island for lunch after he hunted down some fish.

They settled on a small island populated with many pine trees and lots of lush, thick grass which Hiccup immediately laid down in. The rocks of the Bewilderbeast's nest barely got any grass—it was all moss—and the dirt underneath the vegetation felt _so soft._

"What are you doing?"

"It's comfortable!" Reluctantly, Hiccup sat up to find that Cloudjumper, who was sitting on dirt rather than grass, had pushed a couple of fish his way. _Wonderful. _He set it on an exposed boulder beside him.

"Thanks," he said, but he didn't touch the food. Instead, he simply enjoyed the sun on his face and the warm wind blowing through his hair. He spotted a long stick next to him and picked it up. One end fell into the dirt in front of him, making an uneven line.

_Hmm._

Hiccup maneuvered his front foot until it was comfortable holding the stick. Squinting at Cloudjumper, who was paying attention to the fish rather than him, he drew a wobbly oval.

_Wow. It DOES look like Cloudjumper's face! Well, not yet. Maybe I can make it better._

Carefully, Hiccup drew two smaller ovals inside the larger one, then a line inside each.

_Hey, those look like eyes!_

Encouraged, Hiccup kept adding details until he'd crafted a picture of what looked vaguely like Cloudjumper's head in the dirt.

By this time Cloudjumper had noticed and was watching him, looking slightly concerned. "Hiccup...what are you _doing?_"

"Drawing! Look, it's you!" He pointed to his creation, thrilled.

Cloudjumper squinted at it. "I don't see it."

"Oh, come on!" Hiccup protested. "Look—there's your eyes, and those are your horns, and there's your—"

"_This_ is drawing!" Cloudjumper interrupted him, grabbing a branch from the nearest tree. He took it in his jaws and made a few squiggly, intersecting lines in the dirt. Satisfied, he sat back at looked at his work. "There. That's what I look like!" He glanced at Hiccup's drawing again. "Yours just looks like a bunch of squiggles. I'm flattered."

Frustrated, Hiccup opened his mouth, but Cloudjumper shook his head. "Enough of that. Drawing's hard anyway." He yawned, showing off an impressive display of sharp teeth. "It's sunny here. I'm going to take a nap." He settled down to sleep, but hesitated, poking an eye open to stare at Hiccup. "Don't go far, and don't wake me up." He closed it again.

Hiccup shrugged at this. At least it would give him some time to look around.

Without further hesitation, he headed to explore the forest.


	3. Chapter 2: The Night Fury

The forest was teeming with life. Birds warbled in every tree, and every few seconds Hiccup spotted the ferns rustling on either side of him.

Hiccup gazed up at a bird perched on a branch. _I wonder how much it can see from up there?_ he thought, feeling the familiar envy of Cloudjumper's ability to fly.

_Well,_ he thought briskly, shoving the feeling aside and trying to stay positive. _I don't need flight to get a good view!_ He made his way through the trees on onto the beach.

The ocean went on _forever, _dotted with little islands here and there. The closest island to his was a colossal, rocky mountain. He could see several dragons swarming around the summit, which seemed to be caved in. And from that was coming...smoke?

Hiccup peered at it closer. Yes, that was definitely smoke. And it wasn't just from a dragon's breath. It was a dense cloud almost as tall and wide as the mountain itself. Hiccup knew right away that something wasn't quite right.

Suddenly, out from the caved-in mountain burst a gigantic flock of dragons. There weren't as many as in the Bewilderbeast's nest, but enough that Hiccup knew it was _a_ nest. They looked terrified.

Hiccup sprinted back to Cloudjumper and tapped him. The Stormcutter's eyes flew open, and they did not look pleased.

"Didn't I say not to wake me up?"

"But Cloudjumper, this is important! There's this island—"

"You and your islands! I've seen a million of 'em; I'm going back to sleep."

"No, Cloudjumper, really! It's a nest, I'm sure of it, and all of the dragons are fleeing it!"

"_What?_"

Cloudjumper got to his feet instantly. "Where?"

"You can see it from the other side of the island."

The dragon gave him a look. "I said not to go far!"

"It's _not _far!"

"Oh, whatever. Get on."

Hiccup clambered onto Cloudjumper's back. He barely had enough time to grip the Stormcutter's neck before he shot into the air. Cloudjumper flew high above the island and peered into the distance. Hiccup could see the flock still pouring out from the mountain.

"That's odd…" murmured Cloudjumper. Hiccup could feel his muscles tensing.

"Are we going to check it out?" asked Hiccup.

"Yes," Cloudjumper said. "Hold on!"

With that, he shot into the fastest flight Hiccup had seen from him yet. He nearly fell off the Stormcutter's back.

Within the span of a few minutes, they'd covered the distance between them and the flock. Cloudjumper stopped a frantic-looking Monstrous Nightmare as he bolted.

"Hey, calm down! What's going on?"

"It's the queen," hissed the Nightmare, clearly assuming that Cloudjumper was one of the flock and would understand what he was talking about. His eyes fell on Hiccup and he recoiled.

"Wait, why—?"

"Not a word," Cloudjumper snapped. "Now tell me what you mean. What is your queen doing?"

The Nightmare's eyes were still warily focusing on Hiccup. "You know the drill. We give her food, someone forgets and dooms us all, then the queen tries to eat us all. I'm not waiting around here any longer, and I suggest you don't either!" And with that, he was gone.

"What kind of queen tries to _eat_ her subjects?" asked Hiccup, horrified.

"I don't know," answered Cloudjumper, narrowing his eyes at the mountain, "but we're not sticking around to find out. Let's see where the flock goes."

He turned tail and booked it after the flock, eventually falling in a little ways behind the last dragon, a young-looking black dragon of a species Hiccup hadn't seen before.

Another island soon loomed on the horizon. It was one of the larger ones they'd seen; larger than the nest, but there was something _different_ about it. Hiccup could make out little brown..._forms, _for lack of a better word, dotting the surface, and out of the ocean in front of it, made of stone, were two figures whose faces looked almost like…

Cloudjumper stopped dead in midair. The black dragon gave him a concerned glance before continuing on. The Stormcutter looked horrified. He whipped around and sped away from the island even faster than he'd been going before. Hiccup could hear a low growl brewing in his throat.

"What is it?" Hiccup asked, slightly scared. "What was that island?" Cloudjumper didn't answer. "Cloudjumper?"

"You don't want to know," growled Cloudjumper cuttingly.

"Yes, I do," pressed Hiccup, "even more so now that you said that." He waited, but Cloudjumper didn't seem keen on elaborating. "Oh, come on. What harm could it do to tell me?"

Cloudjumper barked a humorless laugh. "Oh, Hiccup. You have _no_ idea."

Frustrated but deciding not to push it any further, Hiccup sat back. He caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head.

Hiccup's jaw dropped. Following them was the young black dragon from the flock. His eyes widened when Hiccup saw him and he balked in midair.

"What is it?" Cloudjumper asked, sensing his shock.

"Look behind you!"

Cloudjumper whirled around and caught sight of the dragon. His jaw, like Hiccup's was hanging open, and Hiccup noticed a significant lack of teeth.

Cloudjumper's growl returned. "Why are you following us?" he snarled.

Pointed teeth shot out of the dragon's gums, and Hiccup nearly fell off of Cloudjumper again.

"Can you blame me," the dragon snapped, his pupils contracting, "for wanting to know why you've got a human on your back?"

Every muscle in Cloudjumper's body seemed to turn to stone for a moment. Hiccup was confused. Was the dragon talking about..._him?_

"What's a—?" Hiccup started, but before he could finish the sentence, Cloudjumper had whipped around and fled.

It was no use. The dragon instantly caught up to him, blocking his path. "What are you planning to do with it?" he asked, though his hostility had quickly turned to curiosity. "Are you going to feed it to the queen? Ooh, are you going to use it as a hostage?"

"Go away!" snarled Cloudjumper. The dragon ignored him.

"Do humans even taste good? They look kind of stringy—_especially_ that one; you picked the absolute worst one! Ooh, it's looking at me. I wonder if it can talk?"

"Of course I can talk," Hiccup said indignantly. "And I do have a name, you know." Everyone seemed to forget that fact.

"You _named_ it?" asked the black dragon, delighted. "Is it your pet? It's so little, especially compared to all the other ones. I suppose that makes it easy to take care of, eh? But doesn't it try to kill you all the time? Maybe it's too small. I don't know. Hmm."

"Would you _shut up_ about humans?" hissed Cloudjumper, who looked positively frantic. Hiccup was simply bewildered.

"Why?" asked the dragon. He came up to Hiccup and sniffed him. "Ooh. I thought he'd smell horrible, like sweat and blood and _grumpiness_. That's what all the rest smell like. But he smells like dragons. I like that."

"Of course I smell like dragons," said Hiccup, still astonished and slightly irritated. "I _am_ a—"

"BOTH OF YOU, SHUT UP!" roared Cloudjumper suddenly. Hiccup snapped his mouth shut in sync with the black dragon. Cloudjumper glared at the dragon. "You're going to go back to your flock and your island, and you're going to leave us alone."

"No way," said the dragon stubbornly. "I want to see where you guys are going. And learn more about this guy," he added, pupils rounding as he stared at Hiccup, who scowled back at him.

"Where's your mother?" Cloudjumper asked the dragon, looking him up and down. "You're quite young."

"I'm not _that_ young," he grumbled. "I'm ten. I just _look_ like I'm five." He thought for a moment. "And act like it, I suppose."

"I'll say," snapped Cloudjumper. He looked the dragon dead in the eye. "You can't come back with us. We're going back to our own nest."

"But Cloudjumper," Hiccup pointed out, "isn't the Alpha's nest open to all dragons when they need it?"

Cloudjumper's eyes sparked with fury. "Shut _up,_" he hissed, and Hiccup's eyes widened. He'd never seen Cloudjumper nearly this angry before. Hell, he'd never seen him show more than two ounces of emotion before. Hiccup decided this _would_ be a good time to shut up.

"The _Alpha's _nest?" gasped the black dragon. "Ooh. Now I'm _definitely_ coming with you!"

Cloudjumper growled. "Fine. I suppose I can't stop you. But _both_ of you have to keep your maws firmly closed until we get back. Understood?"

Hiccup nodded. The black dragon retracted his teeth and snapped his jaw shut. Cloudjumper took flight, making no effort to slow down for the black dragon.

He didn't need it. The dragon was easily as fast as Cloudjumper and even pulled ahead a little at times, but he always fell back in the end to follow the Stormcutter.

"Can we stop for a while?" panted the black dragon at a point. "I'm not good at flying long distances."

Cloudjumper didn't acknowledge him by so much as a glance.

The dragon didn't seem bothered. "Okay then. I'll rest for a bit and catch up with you guys later." He zoomed down towards a small island, where Hiccup saw him flop down, exhausted.

Cloudjumper started flying faster, as if hoping to lose him, but sure enough, twenty minutes later, Hiccup heard a high-pitched whistling sound and turned his head to see the dragon speeding towards him.

_Woah. He is _fast!

By the time they reached the nest, the sun was starting to set. The black dragon's eyes widened when the giant spikes of ice came into view.

"_Wow._"

Cloudjumper dived into a hole, and Hiccup ducked as to not hit his head. They landed outside their cave, and the black dragon touched down behind them.

"Great, you're here," Cloudjumper told him icily as Hiccup slid off his back. "Now you can go leave us alone."

"But I came here to be with you guys!" He grinned at Hiccup. "Okay, mostly him. What's it like being a human living among dragons?" Hiccup noticed Cloudjumper tensing up again.

"I think you have this wrong," Hiccup told the dragon, confused. "I don't know what you mean. What's a human?"

Cloudjumper shoved himself between the two before the dragon could answer. "Leave us," he growled threateningly. "_Now._"

Cowed, the dragon flew up to an empty cave a little ways above theirs. Hiccup could see him peering down at them.

"Cloudjumper," Hiccup said hesitantly, "what—?"

"He's delusional," interrupted the Stormcutter curtly. "Don't listen to a word he says, you hear me?" He leaned down and stared Hiccup down. "Not a _single word._"

"Cloudj—"

"_Hiccup._"

"I mean...okay," Hiccup said, flustered. Cloudjumper stalked into their cave.

"Good."

Hiccup followed him into the cave and laid down a few feet away from him, rather than in the folds of his wings like he usually did. He was still a bit wary of the big dragon after seeing him so worked up; additionally, he wasn't sure if Cloudjumper would want him to. He seemed a bit..._angry._

So, Hiccup curled up by himself on the hard, cold stone. It was chillier than he'd thought it would be. Shivering a little, he wrapped the animal fur around himself tighter. _I need another of these._ Hiccup closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep.

His efforts proved useless, though, as the day's events kept playing in his mind and bringing up questions. What was a "human", and why was Cloudjumper so adamant about keeping Hiccup from knowing? Why had he been so freaked out by that strange island? And why was the black dragon treating him like he was some sort of exotic rodent? He just didn't know, but the questions kept nagging at him.

Something warm wrapped around Hiccup. He snapped his eyes open to find that it was Cloudjumper quietly coming over next to him and laying his wings around Hiccup. Hiccup closed his eyes once more and smiled to himself, finally drifting off into a deep sleep.

Hiccup woke to find that, unusually, Cloudjumper was gone. Usually the big dragon got Hiccup up at the same time as himself. Hiccup stood up and stretched; then, he walked outside to see where his companion had gone.

Cloudjumper was nowhere to be found. Hiccup peered into a few of the neighboring caves, but all he saw was sleeping dragon families, none of them Stormcutters. _Hmm. Where would he have gone?_

As if summoned by his thoughts, Hiccup heard a loud thud behind him and turned to see Cloudjumper standing there.

"Where have you been?" Hiccup asked curiously.

"Sorry about that," the dragon said. "I was just having a..._talk_ with that irritating Night Fury."

"Night Fury?"

"Him." Cloudjumper glared up to the black dragon's cave.

"Oh. I haven't heard of a Night Fury before. Are they common?"

"Used to be," said Cloudjumper, frowning up at the cave. "But throughout the years, they've been...disappearing. Dying out. I don't know."

"What? Why?"

"No one's quite sure," Cloudjumper said evasively, but his blank expression suggested otherwise.

"Does it have to do with those "human" things?" he asked hesitantly.

Cloudjumper tensed, and Hiccup knew he'd struck home. "Er...yes," the Stormcutter said, choosing his words carefully. "A bit."

Hiccup was tempted to question him further, but just then, the Night Fury emerged from his cave, but to Hiccup's surprise, didn't approach them. He glanced at the two and gave Hiccup a quick wink of farewell, and then he was gone, out of the nest.

"Finally, that nuisance is gone," grumbled Cloudjumper. "Back to his flock," he added after seeing Hiccup's questioning look. "I convinced him to leave us be. We should never see him again."

"What about the rest of his flock? Their queen was trying to _eat_ them! Shouldn't we go back and help them?" Hiccup protested.

Cloudjumper's eyes hardened. "I've reported it to the Alpha. _We_ are never going near that nest again, and _especially_ not that island."

Hiccup frowned. "Why not?"

Cloudjumper locked eyes with him. "Just trust me on this, Hiccup. It's for the best." Hiccup opened his mouth to argue, but Cloudjumper cut him off.

"Please."

So Hiccup relented. "All right, Cloudjumper," he said. "I will."


	4. Chapter 3: The Flight

Hiccup dangled his legs over the edge of the cliff, basking in the crisp, cold night air that washed over him. It had been around a week since his and Cloudjumper's expedition, but despite the Stormcutter's cold dismissal of the day, he just couldn't get it out of his head. The dead of night was the only chance he had to think without a swarm of dragons passing by every five seconds. This, of course, meant that he was more tired than usual in the daytime, but the peaceful solitude was worth it.

Despite his nights of brooding, however, he still hadn't the slightest clue what to make of anything, particularly the Night Fury's odd behavior and unfamiliar language.

_Could "human" be a species of dragon? No—then why would he think I was a pet? _The thought made Hiccup uncomfortable as he remembered Thunderthorn and Sleetstorm's gibes.

_"Oh, look. It's Cloudjumper's little pet."_

_"Let's get to the fish before Cloudjumper's pet takes it all."_

Hiccup stared at his clawless front feet. They didn't even seem like feet, really, but he didn't have any other word for it. Not only were they clawless, they were _scale_less, as Sleetstorm's gang was always quick to point out. He barely even had any fur. He had no wings. He had no fire or acid or ice. His teeth were dull. Hell, he could barely even stomach fish, the thing he ate on a daily basis!

Hiccup hung his head. _What's wrong with me?_

"_Psst!_"

Hiccup's head snapped up again and he winced, rubbing his neck. He could have sworn he heard a voice. _Hmm. Probably just crickets._

"_Hey!_ Over here!"

Hiccup started again. Okay, that was _definitely_ a voice.

"Behind you!"

Hiccup scrambled to his feet and swiveled around, peering into his dark surrounding. That was another thing he lacked: decent night vision.

"Who's there?" he said quietly, annoyed by the tremble in his voice. _You have a giant, scary Stormcutter in the cave ten feet away from you. What do you have to worry about?_

A pair of feline-like green eyes blinked at him from a few inches away.

"Aah!" Hiccup stumbled backwards, nearly toppling backwards over the cliff.

"Sorry! Sorry." The eyes retreated a foot or two. His eyes having adjusted to the dark, Hiccup could just barely make out a long, streamlined figure to which the eyes belonged.

"Wait…" he said disbelievingly.

"Yeah, it's me!" the Night Fury confirmed, lighting a flame in his mouth to reveal himself. He extinguished it with a swift glance at the cave where Cloudjumper slumbered.

"I thought you went home!" Hiccup said, a hint of accusation sprinkled in his tone. "That's what Cloudjumper said, anyway."

"That's what I told him," the dragon said slyly. Hiccup felt his eyebrows raise, and the dragon gave him what looked like a cheeky grin—without the teeth, of course. His eyes glittered with mischief.

"Okay, fine. Why _didn't _you go home, then?" Hiccup modified.

"Well, I would have thought that was obvious!" The Night Fury looked mildly surprised. "Because of you, of course!"

"What?" Hiccup was taken a little aback, but after remembering the dragon's obsessive behavior when they'd first met, he wasn't too shocked. "But...why me? What _about _me?"

"Well, you—" The Night Fury stopped, thought for a moment, then snapped his jaw shut. "Oh, right. I'm not supposed to say."

"Says who?"

"Him, of course. The Stormcutter." The Fury swished his tail in Cloudjumper's direction.

"Oh, so you listen to him about that—whatever _that_ is—but not about going home?" protested Hiccup, slightly irritated.

"Er...yeah, pretty much. I really just pick and choose what rules I want to follow," the dragon confirmed, not seeming to see any fault in this.

"That's one way to get yourself killed," muttered Hiccup, but the Fury just rolled his eyes, unbothered.

"Whatever. That's not important. What is is that I don't even know your name!" His ears perked upwards. "We should get acquainted!"

"Why?" Hiccup said, narrowing his eyes. "What's in it for you?"

The dragon shrugged. "I'm interested in the life of a—a, um, _you_—among everyone else," he said vaguely, gesturing with one large wing to the silent nest around them. "Plus, you seem nice, and I like nice people. They don't usually like me, though. I'm probably too annoying." He paused for a moment, then shook himself. "The point is, I like making friends!" He grinned again and cocked his head at Hiccup. "Toothless."

"Huh?" Hiccup's gaze was drawn to his gummy smile. He knew the dragon had teeth.

"Me! My name's Toothless, I mean." He looked at Hiccup expectantly. "So…?"

Hiccup hesitated. _What if he's not trustworthy? He went behind Cloudjumper's back…_

_But on the other claw, it's not like anyone else is going out of their way to be my friend. What do I have to lose?_

"Hiccup," he said finally. The dragon blinked happily.

"Good to meet you, Hiccup!" he said joyfully. "Now, come on!" He made his way to the edge of the nest, looking at Hiccup expectantly.

"Wait, what?" Hiccup said, dumbfounded. This was a seriously abrupt change of topic. "Come on where?"

"Oh, you'll see," Toothless laughed, eyes shining more than ever. "Aw, come on, you can trust me!" He jerked his head in a "get over here" gesture.

Still suspicious, Hiccup hung back. It was one thing when Cloudjumper, his companion of _forever,_ asked him to trust him. It was quite another when this odd Night Fury he'd only just met did.

Again, though, his anxious brain told him otherwise. _You're really going to miss out on your one chance at a friend by being too shy?_

And so, slowly but steadily, he made his way over to Toothless, whose ears twitched with excitement.

"Awesome! Don't worry, we'll get back eventually," he said, swooping around Hiccup and grabbing him by the shoulders. Unfortunately, Toothless was quite a bit smaller than Cloudjumper, and thus quite a bit weaker. This resulted in him dropping Hiccup immediately, who was luckily close enough to the ground to easily land on his feet.

"Great ice-spitting Alpha, you're heavy," Toothless panted, landing in front of him again. "Okay. Let's see. What were you doing earlier with that Stormcutter? Sitting on his back?" He squinted at Hiccup. "Hmm. Maybe that'll be easier. Go on," he invited him, arching his back a little.

Cautiously, Hiccup made his way to the Night Fury and swung a leg over his back. He found that it was _much_ easier than mounting Cloudjumper, and his form fitted a lot better to a Night Fury's back. It wasn't entirely comfortable, though—the dragon had a bit of a bony spine, which was also lined with dorsal plates.

"Let's get going!" laughed Toothless gleefully, taking off. He faltered a little from the unfamiliar weight, but quickly adjusted to it, making his way out of the nest.

"Wait—_where?_" Hiccup asked desperately. If he wasn't back by dawn, Cloudjumper would wake up to find him gone.

"You'll see," he said again. "And I'm willing to bet you'll like it!"

"Toothless, seriously, if Cloudjumper discovers I'm gone—"

"We'll make up a story for you," he said dismissively.

"Like _what?_" Hiccup said desperately.

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe you were just out for a scenic morning flight."

"Toothless. _I don't have wings._"

"A walk, then."

"We should really think this through!"

Toothless glanced back at him, his eyes dancing. "Oh, but Hiccup, where's the fun in that?" Laughing, he initiated a steep dive from their now incredible height, making a beeline for the unforgiving ocean below.

Hiccup let out a shout of fright as they plummeted towards the sea. He could sense Toothless's exhilaration, however, and it was somewhat contagious. As they got closer and closer, as they gained more and more speed, Hiccup could feel his adrenaline building with excitement rather than terror.

The sea was getting close. Hiccup was convinced that any second they would shatter its glasslike surface. Toothless was going much too fast to possibly stop, wasn't he? The trance of anticipation he was in forced him not to care.

A sudden jolt yanked him back into reality. Toothless's wings had sprang open like a parachute and had abruptly changed their direction. Now they were just barely skimming the ocean; Hiccup could feel the surf spraying his toes.

A laugh of joy escaped him. This was amazing! He could feel that Toothless was having as much fun, if not more, than him, and he never wanted it to stop.

They were going faster than Hiccup even knew was possible! He instinctively leaned down close to Toothless's neck, flattening his back as to get the least air resistance possible. It made him feel like a bird. Or, better yet, a proper, flying _dragon._

The ocean was their racetrack, and time was their opponent. Hiccup couldn't even tell if Toothless was gaining or losing speed. All he _could_ tell was that he was _flying._

Toothless's velocity decreased, and so did Hiccup's adrenaline rush with it. After a time, they were peacefully gliding over the waves, both emitting a kind of breathless laughter.

"Told you you'd like it," Toothless grinned, giving Hiccup a glance. Hiccup couldn't help but grin back.

"I guess you're right." He took in the sea and sky around him. "Yeah. Definitely right."

After a time, Hiccup felt the Night Fury's muscles shift underneath him, and Toothless began veering right.

"You're right too—I, for one, don't want your Stormcutter friend yelling at me again. Let's get you back to the nest."

Hiccup was tempted to argue—he wanted to do this _forever_—but he knew it was probably for the better, so he reluctantly sat back and enjoyed the last few minutes of the flight.

In what seemed like a criminally short amount of time, the Alpha's icy nest was looming before them. Toothless swooped inside and Hiccup clambered off of his back.

"Better than flying with that grump, eh?" Toothless said, eyes gleaming.

"Much better," Hiccup grinned. Cloudjumper wasn't nearly this fun to talk to, either, nor did he like to.

"So I suppose that means same time tomorrow night?" the dragon asked hopefully.

"You bet!" Hiccup smiled at the Night Fury as he gave him a tiny wave of the wing and then took off, disappearing among the rays of the rising sun.

_Rising sun._ Cloudjumper would be waking soon. Panicked, Hiccup booked it back to their cave and carefully shoved himself under the dragon's wing, slamming his eyes shut as he did so.

Luckily, he had a few minutes to spare before the big dragon stirred. Hiccup kept his eyes loosely shut as Cloudjumper got up, stretched, and poked him in the shoulder.

"Up."

For once, Hiccup didn't protest, as he was still wide awake from his adventure with Toothless. Cloudjumper seemed to notice this, as he squinted suspiciously at him.

"Someone's strangely cooperative this morning."

Hiccup shrugged, trying to come off as casual as he could. "Oh, you know. Just not that tired this morning." His body, of course, immediately betrayed him with a huge yawn. Cloudjumper widened his eyes at Hiccup but didn't question it further.

The Stormcutter looked up at the sky blearily, then back to Hiccup. "Wow. I slept in today, didn't I?" He gave a big yawn of his own. "Mind if I just grab breakfast today?"

"Not at all," Hiccup said, taking extra care to stay on Cloudjumper's _non-suspicious_ side today.

It wasn't long until Cloudjumper had left and returned with a clawful and mouthful of fish. He tossed a couple to Hiccup, who gave a slightly forced "thank you," then started gulping down his own.

"Why haven't I been doing this every day?" Hiccup heard the dragon mutter. "A morning hasn't left my legs this—er—not-sore in _years!_"

It seemed they were both in a good mood that morning.


	5. ACCOUNT UPDATE (I'm back!)

UPDATE/AUTHOR'S NOTE

_owo what's this?_ I actually logged into this account again? whaaaaat?

I'd like to thank everyone who's left reviews on my stories telling me how much they love them. Reading all of these surprised me and left me feeling so grateful. That's why I've decided to continue this account! The stories I will be continuing are _Hiccup Lost _and _How to Train Your Firebender_, and there will be some new stories from some new fandoms coming very soon! I've also recently made an Archive of Our Own account, so you can find me under drollydragon there as well! I'll be posting new stories there as well. Thank you to everyone who has read and appreciated my stories; I love you all so much for that! Expect new chapters for _Hiccup Lost _and HTTYF within the next few weeks, and look forward to new content! Thank you once more!

-drollydragon

P.S. this note will be left on several of my stories so you might see it multiple times.


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